R had a milestone birthday this year. As always all but one of my plans worked. The reason for the failure of the other plans is something beyond our control – illness. So let us talk about the plan that worked.

A few months back, it hit me that I need to go way out to celebrate R’s birthday as it was a milestone year. If you know R, you would know that he is not the party kind of guy (So there goes my plans to organize a surprise party). He is also not someone with a big list of must-have-things. Other than his camera and related items he is happy with whatever. It took a couple of days but then I had this brainwave.

I created a new email id and sent out emails to his closest friends and first cousins. I asked them to write anything they wanted to about R. Memories, pictures, wishes and even a crossword puzzle made the way back. It took a few reminders and guilt tripping to get people responding but hey they did reply back.

I printed all the wishes individually and put them into envelopes. Added foam lettering to the envelopes and pasted them on the bathroom mirror sometime in the wee hours of the morning. Why the bathroom mirror? simple it will be one of the places he will first look and it offered the kind of space I needed.

Needless to say,R loved it. A simple gesture to celebrate relationships and birthdays.

And to all our awesome friends and family who were a part of this birthday project – thank you! I could not have done it without you and you add so much to our lives! Thank you for being you and supporting us.